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One of the things that I really liked about the Greek restaurants was the many tasty appetizers or mezes (or mezedes) that they served. It was really nice when eating in a group as you could order a few mezes and try some of each. One of the mezes that I liked the most was a seafood saganaki. At first I was not sure what would come as I associated the name Saganaki with the fried cheese dish. Apparently saganaki is also the name of the two handled pan that the dish is made in. The seafood saganaki was shrimp, octopus and mussels cooked in a spicy tomato sauce and covered with feta cheese. With just one bite I knew that I would just have to try making this one at home.

The first decision that I made was to simplify the dish by just using shrimp, which was my favorite part. It was quite easy to find many recipes for shrimp saganaki online and I came up with this one using what I liked from several of them. The shrimp saganaki was really easy to make and it turned out great! The spicy tomato sauce, salty feta cheese and succulent shrimp combo was so good! A lot of the recipes that I found called for ouzo, which is a Greek anise flavored liqueur. Although you do not taste the ouzo in the final product, unless you use a lot of it, it adds that something to the dish that just makes it better. Many of the recipes that I read suggested serving the shrimp saganaki with bread and that was a great call. The sauce was so good that it would practically be a crime not to finish it and having the crusty bread on hand to sop it up was perfect. You could easily serve the shrimp saganaki as a light meal or as an appetizer. I enjoyed my shrimp saganaki with a glass of ouzo.

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the red pepper flakes and garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
4. Add the tomato, oregano and ouzo and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the shrimp and simmer for 30 seconds per side.
6. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley.
7. Transfer to a baking dish and top with the feta cheese.
8. Bake in a preheated 425F oven until the sauce is bubbly, about 10 minutes.

Note: Shrimp saganaki is also called garithes yiouvetsi or baked prawns.

Take a look at Peter's post on shrimp saganaki for another great take on the dish.

Update May 19 2009:

I recently came across a new idea for shrimp saganaki on Greek Food R & R to use masticha liqueur instead of ouzo for a mastic shrimp saganaki. I was able to pick up a bottle of masticha liqueur and some mastic resin and I made the shrimp saganaki again this time with the mastic flavours instead of the ouzo. I am torn as to which version I like best. I think that I will have to make them both again and have a head to head face off. :)

Does this recipe look tasty?

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oh wow, this looks delicious!!! i am surprised there is so much liquid when all you added was the tomatoes?? i can't wait to try this! i have not had much greek food so i am happy to see all these dishes you are featuring on your blog :)

It looks so good! Your version turned out beautiful. So glad you simplified it with the shrimp. I like the other seafood you mentioned, but have never tried my hand at cooking them. Not sure how they would turn out.

just to let you know: ouzo's not a liquer. it's not a sweet drink. the typical meaning of liquer. it's an aperitif.your recipe's 'to die' for!am about to make your cod in tomato and feta sauce..a bit similar.thanks for the cooking inspirations, Kevin!carole s.

I doubled the recipe and added some pureed tomatoes to the diced fresh ones. I also added a squeeze of lemon juice at the end, because I love the taste of fresh citrus with seafood. I recommend using large or jumbo shrimp in this dish so they stand out.

This was incredibly good, and easy! The ouzo adds a unique flavor to the sauce. I added sea scallops and tripled the recipe for dinner. Had to adjust the cooking time and lower the tempeture slightly to have it cook evenly.

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About Me

I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.